Fester
16-08-03, 11:47 PM
Well I purchase one of the smooth boot panels to see what it was all about, it's shaping up OK now but it didn't >quite< fit out of the box...
The problem seems to be the reinforcement... the outer skin if it was on its own would fit perfectly. It's suppose to go up and snake it way into the big groove and go underneath the window rubber, thus hiding that part of the join. Well theyre reinforced to such a degree that if you put this section of it in the groove, the bottom is half an inch from the bottom of the tailgate. There's no other options, so the top has been lopped and sanded down pretty much flat:
http://www.novaload.net/forums/album_see.php?id=1606
After smoothing off the lip that remained, here's how far it goes up the back. You can see the big depp ridge where the window and the rubber sit into, and the white edge is the top of the panel. I'm not sure whether the rubber will come down far enough to cover this, if it doesn't I'll have to use P40 or similar to extend this up so it comfortably fits underneath the rubber. At the top of the panel is also where it started to fold back in to fit under the rubber so you can see it clearly would have to be moved up a long way, leaving the expanse at the bottom as I've said:
http://www.novaload.net/forums/album_see.php?id=1607
Also you can see now the top bit is totally flat now I've taken the lip bit off, this is as far round the side as it gets. This is totally not a problem if you have a wraparound spoiler, in fact it's probably an aid as the wraparound can be stuck onto the actual tailgate, covering the whole crossover point more effectively. If you don't have a wraparound (that's an SR or GTE type rear spoiler) you'd need to make some sort of arrangement here:
http://www.novaload.net/forums/album_see.php?id=1605
Now that the whole thing can be pulled downwards into position it can all be lined up against the bottom edge and the side edges. Obviously it's not stuck on yet as I've not finished flattening and sanding the regions at the top and side top that need work. The cutout cover does fit exactly and proportionally it looks to fit accurately. The whole bottome dge would be at least half an inch upwards from here if the top lip was left on:
http://www.novaload.net/forums/album_see.php?id=1608
And finally here's an overview of what it's looking like. Overall it looks well, if i can make the top edge and window rubber sections work together.
These do need a fair few hours 'work' to fit though! I knew it wasn't going to be a simple glue on job when it arrived through the door, but also didn't expect to have to start cutting, filing and grinding bits a pieces. No different to any other fibreglass product I suppose, but know what you're buying. It should look pukka when finished though :D
http://www.novaload.net/forums/album_see.php?id=1604
The problem seems to be the reinforcement... the outer skin if it was on its own would fit perfectly. It's suppose to go up and snake it way into the big groove and go underneath the window rubber, thus hiding that part of the join. Well theyre reinforced to such a degree that if you put this section of it in the groove, the bottom is half an inch from the bottom of the tailgate. There's no other options, so the top has been lopped and sanded down pretty much flat:
http://www.novaload.net/forums/album_see.php?id=1606
After smoothing off the lip that remained, here's how far it goes up the back. You can see the big depp ridge where the window and the rubber sit into, and the white edge is the top of the panel. I'm not sure whether the rubber will come down far enough to cover this, if it doesn't I'll have to use P40 or similar to extend this up so it comfortably fits underneath the rubber. At the top of the panel is also where it started to fold back in to fit under the rubber so you can see it clearly would have to be moved up a long way, leaving the expanse at the bottom as I've said:
http://www.novaload.net/forums/album_see.php?id=1607
Also you can see now the top bit is totally flat now I've taken the lip bit off, this is as far round the side as it gets. This is totally not a problem if you have a wraparound spoiler, in fact it's probably an aid as the wraparound can be stuck onto the actual tailgate, covering the whole crossover point more effectively. If you don't have a wraparound (that's an SR or GTE type rear spoiler) you'd need to make some sort of arrangement here:
http://www.novaload.net/forums/album_see.php?id=1605
Now that the whole thing can be pulled downwards into position it can all be lined up against the bottom edge and the side edges. Obviously it's not stuck on yet as I've not finished flattening and sanding the regions at the top and side top that need work. The cutout cover does fit exactly and proportionally it looks to fit accurately. The whole bottome dge would be at least half an inch upwards from here if the top lip was left on:
http://www.novaload.net/forums/album_see.php?id=1608
And finally here's an overview of what it's looking like. Overall it looks well, if i can make the top edge and window rubber sections work together.
These do need a fair few hours 'work' to fit though! I knew it wasn't going to be a simple glue on job when it arrived through the door, but also didn't expect to have to start cutting, filing and grinding bits a pieces. No different to any other fibreglass product I suppose, but know what you're buying. It should look pukka when finished though :D
http://www.novaload.net/forums/album_see.php?id=1604